Interlocking decking panel



Patented Nov. 30, 1943 UN ITE D STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,335,556I-NTERLocKlNG -DECKING PANEL charles N. Wilson, Washington, D. c. yApplication October 26, 1942, Serial No. 463,386'

(Cl. s4-13,)

5 Claims.

This invention relates to interlocking panels of the type intended forforming decking for use as a-ireld runways, taxiways, roadways, ramps,bridge surfacing, garage flooring, etc.

An important object of my invention is to provide a decking panel of theabove character that is adapted to be made in major part of wood, asopposed to metal according to usual practice, and which at the same timeis sufiiciently strong and rigid as to successfully withstand the severewear and tear to which it is subjected in service. Some of theadvantages of my decking panel are its lightness of weight, capabilityof being transported in compact knock-down condition and the cheapnessand availability of the material, Wood, of which the panel is composed.

Another object of my invention is to provide a panel of the abovecharacter which, in laying a decking, is adapted to be quickly assembledwith similar panels end-to-end in interdigitated lrelation, and alsohaving coupling means adapted to be interlocked with complementarycoupling means on laterally adjacent panels for retaining the 'panels inassembly.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a decking panel whichis comparatively simple and inexpensive in construction and which iscapable of being rapidly and conveniently vassembled with companionpanels in forming a traction surface.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,reference being had to the annexed drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of Van interlocking decking panel assembled withco panion panels, indicated in broken lines;

Figure 2 is a side view of the panel;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail perspective 'view of one side of thepanel, showing the means for laterally coupling the panels together; and

Figure 4 is a side View, with parts broken away, of a coupling ring. l

The decking panel of generally rectangular outline illustrated in fulllines in Fig. 1 is adapted to be assembledwith identical units to form arunway for airplanes. The panel comprises a series of straightrectangular wooden rails I held in spaced-apart parallel relation bymeans of intermediate spacer blocks 2 corresponding in 'cross-section tothe rails I but being of substantially shorter length. The spacer blocksare arr-anged in rows (in the present embodiment shown as two 'innumber) extending crosswise of the panel vand spaced roughly aboutone-'third'of the '68 *blocks between vadjacent rails Vlength of thepanel inwardly `of its ends so as to leave'the ends of the railsprojecting as laterally spaced 'lingers la from 'oppositefends `of thepanel. Along one side only of the panel land in 'line with the lrows ofblocks -2 'are spacer blocks 2a, which I Yterm panel spacer blocks,these panel spacer blocks corresponding in Jall respects to the' spacerThe rails and spacer blocks are lheld in rigid association by means 'cia pair 'of metal -tie rods -3 having 'threaded ends extending'transverselylof the .panel through aligned openings in vtite rails andblocks. The fingers ta 4are likewise' bored so las to receivesupplemental tie rods y3a corresponding to and extending parallel withthe tie rods 3.

lFor 'assembling 'the panels sidfe-by-'s'idal rectangular-shaped'coupling rings 4 are associated with lthe .ends of the t'ie rods 3 and3a, a's best 4"shown 'in Fig. `i3.. Each ring-tias one Yof its sidewalls vpiftwided with a threaded end `for screwing "onto the projectingthreaded end "of a tie rod, 'thefcopling Ii-ngs thus 'serv-ing as'nutsfoir clamping ythe parts of the panel together' in at later- *allyabutting relation. Lock nuts 5 may vbe yprovided for prevent-ing'accidental unscrewing of the rings. As 'will be A'seen from Figi. l1,`'the rings are provided upon fpposite sides of tire panel, "the ringson one side atlyengagiiiga side rail il and the rings ori-the otherfs'ide jliatly engaging fthe panel spacer blocks 52am -lyin'g Aagaii-istthe other vvside rai-l of the panel.

f'sented by theeoupling -ring's Such to allow sliding -a wooden lockingbar 6 therethrough so a's to occupy the Vspace between the nuts 5r vandthe outer sides v@of the coupling rings 'without too loose -a t. 4Thelength of the locking -bar about 4one-half that "of the panel, or -atleast -o`f alenglth such "as to extend 'betweenl Aat least two couplingrings of each panel. Y

The mode `of Aassembling Sthepanels Ajust described is as follows: Thepanels may be translpor-ted to the locality Where lthey are to vbe laidin fully' knock-#down conditions-etnat is, 'with ,the rai-ls l, spacerblocks 2 and l2a', and tie rods v3 gathered together in separatebundles'. This is especially desirable in order toconservespace.

In laying the runway, the rails lare `arranged 1in parall'elrelationrandthefspacer blocks vZand 2a in-sei'td `between ad-jacent rails Landabutting lthe outside face of one yof `the Iside' rails. 'Next the `tierods 3 lare inserted through the registering "openings in the rails andblocks and 'theicouplin'g rings I screwed onto thescrew-threadedprojecte -i'ng ends of the rods, after which the clampingnuts Sfere `s'crewe`d yonto the ends f 'the rods The size `'of the eyespreprojecting into the eyes of the rings to draw all the parts of thepanel together into tight engagement. I have found that a panel of awidth corresponding to twelve rails, (the rails being 1 in. by 2 in. or2 in. by 4 in. and about 9 feet in length) and including a correspondingnumber of shorter spacer blocks, as shown in Fig. 1, is satisfactory forordinary purposes, although the size of the panel and the number of tierods 3 employed for fastening together the rails and blocks may bevaried as desired, or as may be necessary to meet special conditions.

The individual panels iingers la of the rails of one panel are slippedbetween the spaces separating the mating lingers of a longitudinallycontiguous panel, which causes the panels to be offset laterally by avdistance corresponding to the width of one rail .(see Fig. l). Lockingtie rods 3a arefpassed .through the registering openings in the fingersla, and coupling rings 4 are associated with the .projecting ends of thetie rods and held by lock lnuts 5, in a manner which already has beende- 1 scribed. A row of panels secured end-to-end is thus built up forthe full width of the runway, Athe rails l preferably extending in thedirection Lof lthe width of the runway. The panels constituting a rowwill be turned in alternate reverse order, so that the panel spacerblocks 2a of one panel will lie yon the opposite side from those on 1 anadjacent panel, it being only necessary to bodily turn the panels overor shift them through 180 degrees in a horizontal plane to reverse the'arrangementof the panel spacer blocks.

In a similar manner another row of panels will -be laid adjacent andparallel to the first row, the panels of the two rows being staggeredrelative to K each other soA that the ends of the panels of one .rowfall at about midlength of the panels of the adjacent row. In buildingup arow of panels, the .panels are shoved up against the sides of the'panels of the previously laid row, which autornatically lines up theeyes of the coupling rings fcarried by, laterally adjacent panels andpermits the lockingbars vthrough the eyes to lock the panels together. Yi A,The panels will be assembled in the manner described above until theentire area constituting th runway is covered by the decking with the:panels held together in rigid assembly. It will be apparent that theends of the locking bars 6 of each row of panels will substantially abuteach other, so that by fastening the terminal locking bars in place byany suitable means these bars are precluded from accidentally workingout-of engagement with the eyes of the coupling rings when the runwayAis in service and releasing the connection between adjacent panels. Whenthe runway. is to be taken up-as when it is to be 4moved ,to anotherlocation-this may be readily accomplished by withdrawing the lockingbars6 and the locking'tie rods 3a and stripping down the` individual .panelsby reversing the order of 'the steps just described.

The locking nuts 5, while desirable for more positively retaining thecoupling rings 4 against accidental release, are not absolutelyessential and may be omitted. Likewise the coupling rings need not servethe function of nuts but if desired vthe apertures ytherein may be madesufficiently large to slip. over vthe ends ofthe tie bars and the nuts'5 may serve. to clamp thefparts to- 6 to be thrust endwisehaving beenmade ready, they next are assembled end-to-end and side-byside to formthe decking for the runway. In assembling the panels end-to-end, theprojecting gether. For facilitating the assembly of the panels, andespecially to allow for a certain amount of unavoidable swelling of thewood in wet weather, the spacer blocks 2 and 2a may be made slightlywider than the rails I so as to provide a slight excess of space betweenrails for interdigitating the lingers la of adjacent panels. Also theends of the fingers la may have their corners rounded to insure smoothjoints between panels, especially when the terrain over which thedecking is laid is not absolutely flat. The openings in the rails forpassing the tie rods 3 and 3a, are preferably made elongated in thedirection of the length of the panel to insure Aregistry of theseopenings regardless of variable changes in length of the individualrails under different weather conditions.

The panel can be made in various sizes and the rails may also be made ofvarious sizes and lengths. Two tie rods per panel can be used to make anarticulated panel or additional rods may be employed for rigidity andstrength. Instead of being screw threaded, the ends of the tie rods mayhave keys, bends or other means to secure the panel. Also the couplingrings can be of various forms and vmade from flats, rounds, or otherstructural shapes and attached to the rods or to the side rails.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that my inventionprovides an interlocking decking panel which is strong and rigid inconstruction, capable of cheap manufacture for the reason that it iscomposed almost entirely of wood cut to the same cross-sectional sizeand, for the same reason, very light in weight. Furthermore, because thepanels are adapted to be shipped in compact knock-down condition andassembled on the job the large numbers of the units required to form adecking may be transported in a relatively small spaoe which is anespecially important factor in the case of air transportation. However,the panels need not be shipped in knock-down condition where space isnot a vital factor, but they may be handled as individual units in whichcase all the elements of the panels are pre-assembled and the loss ofparts is avoided.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to theexact details of construction herein shown and described in connectionwith my preferred embodiment, for obvious modifications within the scopeof the following claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

Iclaim:

v1. An interlocking decking panel comprising a series of rails extendinglongitudinally of the panel in parallel relation, spacer blocks locatedvintermediate the rails for maintaining the rails Ymately to their widthto permit end-to-end assembly of the rails of adjacent panels ininterdigitated relation, a plurality of tie rods extending transverselyof the panel through registering openings in the rails and spacerblocks, the ends of said tie rods projecting beyond the sides of thepanel, and securing means detachably connected to the ends of said tierods for clamping the rails and spacer blocks together, said securingmeans including a recess so constructed and arranged to receive alocking bar disposed parallel to the rails. Y

2. An interlocking decking panel comprising a series of rails extendinglongitudinally of the panel in parallel relation, spacer blocks locatedintermediate the rails for maintaining the rails separated `by adistance corresponding approxi,-

mately to their width to permit end-to-end assembly of the rails ofadjacent panels in interdigitated relation, a plurality of tie rodsextending transversely of the panel through registering openings in therails and spacer blocks, the ends of said tie rods projecting beyond thesides of the panel and being screw-threaded, and coupling rings threadedonto the projecting ends of said tie rods and serving as nuts forclamping said rails and spacer blocks together.

3. An interlocking decking panel comprising a series of Wooden railsextending longitudinally of the panel in parallel relation, Woodenspacer blocks located intermediate the rails and exteriorly f a siderail of the panel, said spacer blocks maintaining the rails separated bya distance corresponding approximately to their width so as to permitend-to-end assembly of the rails of adjacent panels in interdigitatedrelation, a plurality of tie rods extending transversely of the panelthrough registering openings in the rails and spacer blocks forretaining said rails and spacer blocks in association, openings providedin the rails adjacent their ends for receiving tie rods adapted tointerlock with the rails of an adjacent panel, the ends of the tie rodsprojecting beyond the sides of the panel and being screwthreaded, andcoupling rings mounted upon the projecting ends of the tie rods andproviding eyes for receiving a locking bar for interlocking laterallyadjacent panels.

4. An interlocking decking panel comprising a series of woden railsextending longitudinally of the panel in parallel relation, Woodenspacer blocks located intermediate the rails and exteriorly of a siderail of the panel, said spacer blocks maintaining the rails separated bya distance corresponding approximately to their Width so as to permitend-to-end assembly of the rails of adjacent panels in interdigitatedrelation, a plurality of tie rods extending transversely of the panelthrough registering openings in the rails and spacer blocks forretaining said rails and spacer blocks in association, openings providedin the rails adjacent their ends for receiving tie rods adapted tointerlock with the rails of an adjacent panel, the ends of the tie rodsprojecting beyond the sides of the panel and being screwthreaded, andcoupling rings threadedly mounted upon the projecting ends of the tierods and serving as nuts for clamping the rails and spacing blockstogether and providing eyes for receiving a locking bar for interlockinglaterally adjacent panels.

5. An interlocking decking panel as set forth in claim 4 in which thespacing between the rails exceeds the Width of the rails and in whichthe openings in the rails for passing the tie rods are elongated in thedirection of the length of the panel to provide for changes indimensions due to shrinking or swelling of the rails.

CHARLES N. WILSON.

